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AI-Assisted Trademark Examination for Examiners

Enforcement

What it collects

Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Newly-filed trademark applications including application text, goods and services descriptions, and trademark imagery submitted to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
About a place
Anonymized data
  • The Canadian Trademarks Database — a repository of existing trademark applications and registrations used as the reference corpus for similarity comparisons.
Run by
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
Accountable organization

What it is for

Enforcement

Onscope is an AI system used by trademark examiners at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to compare newly-filed trademark applications against existing ones in the Canadian Trademarks Database. It uses natural language processing, optical character recognition, and image recognition to help examiners assess whether a new trademark can be registered. The system does not process personal information and has been in use since 2001, improving examination efficiency and reducing processing backlogs.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Newly-filed trademark applications including application text, goods and services descriptions, and trademark imagery submitted to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
About a place
Anonymized data
  • The Canadian Trademarks Database — a repository of existing trademark applications and registrations used as the reference corpus for similarity comparisons.

Processing

Computer Vision
  • Image recognition is used to compare trademark logos and device marks between new applications and existing registrations, detecting visual similarity that may affect registrability.
Classification & Prediction
  • Text classification is applied to trademark names and goods and services descriptions to identify similar or conflicting existing trademarks within the same or related classes.

What it does

Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human decides
  • The system classifies trademark applications and detects image similarity, producing scores and comparisons that the human examiner uses to make registrability decisions. The AI assists but does not make final determinations.
Sensing (Perceptive AI)
Human decides
  • Uses optical character recognition and image recognition to read and interpret trademark text and imagery from filed applications, converting raw documents and images into structured data for comparison.

Outputs

A recommendation or prediction
Anonymized data
  • The system produces similarity comparisons and potential conflict flags between newly-filed trademarks and existing ones, presented to examiners as advisory outputs to assist their registrability determination. The human examiner makes the final decision.

Run by

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
  • The federal department responsible for deploying and operating Onscope to assist trademark examiners in assessing the registrability of newly-filed trademarks.

Government of Canada AI Register — Onscope

Built by

Onscope
  • The vendor that built and supplies the Onscope AI system, providing AI-enabled trademark comparison capabilities to ISED.

Government of Canada AI Register — Onscope

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Available to the accountable organization
  • Outputs and comparison results are accessible to ISED trademark examiners (GC employees) who use them to conduct examination. Outputs are not available to the public or trademark applicants directly.

Stored

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyThe Government of Canada discloses the use of AI in trademark examination through its public AI Register. Applicants are informed that AI tools assist examiners, though the detailed logic of similarity assessments is not individually disclosed.
  • Right to a Human ReviewAll registrability determinations are made by human examiners who use AI outputs as advisory assistance only. The AI does not make final decisions; a qualified examiner reviews every application.

Risks and safeguards

  • Reputational harmRisk that erroneous similarity flags could lead to unfair refusal of legitimate trademark applications, potentially harming applicants' businesses. Mitigated by the human-in-the-loop design where examiners make all final decisions and can override AI suggestions. The system has been in operation since 2001 with reported improvements in quality and consistency.